Republican Leader Michael Steele is a Climate Change Denier

As the debate rages on—or rather, meanders aimlessly on—over who the leader of the Republican party is, RNC chairman Michael Steele offers yet another reason why it shouldn't be him. Turns out he is an avowed climate change denier. In a radio interview that surfaced recently, Steele announced his take on global warming. And like so many of his ideas, like pledging to rap battle against Stephen Colbert, it is absolutely ridiculous.You see, Steele subscribes to the theory that the Earth is cooling, not warming. An excerpt from the interview, via Green Inc:

"We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is now covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right? Iceland, which is now green. Oh I love this. Like we know what this planet is all about. How long have we been here? How long? No very long."

Woops.

As numerous polls have shown, most Americans not only believe in, but want to help fight climate change—even in dark financial times. So what to say about the fact that the chairman of the Republican National Committee willfully demonstrates a stunningly flimsy grasp of science—and of logic as well for that matter?

It's pretty bizarre, to say the least. In the GOP's attempts to come up with a leader, we've seen the woefully ineffectual (and misinformed) Bobby Jindal, the loudmouthed, unlikable Limbaugh, and the astoundingly absurd Michael Steele get handed—and drop—the baton in various ways. There are leadership-worthy Republicans out there who are actually fighting for climate change—some senator from Arizona is one of them. Let's hope the next figure the Republicans come up with to lead their charge has a better grasp of science—and public opinion.